ThunderStruck: Top 25 Tag Teams 1990-2012, Part 1 Of 2

For April’s column, I’ve come up with what I believe are the top 25 pro wrestling tag teams from 1990-2012. Outside of having been a tag team during this twenty two year span, my only other requirement for this list was that the tag team had to hold a set of World Tag Titles AT LEAST three times. Adding this rule in made it much easier to go from 70 something tag teams down to my top 25. I know they’ll be a lot of you who think the list is missing some obvious teams, but I think you’ll also enjoy the variety of names that appear. Enjoy!

25. La Resistance – The group held the world tag titles four times, but it was the addition of Rob Conway teaming with Sylvain Grenier that was responsible or three of those reigns. Rene Dupree and Sylvain Grenier were only champions one time before the duo became a trio before becoming just a duo again(confused yet?). I call it the Demolition complex(they didn’t make the cut). These guys you were everything you wanted to hate in an anti-American heel tag team. They worked well in the ring together and used dirty double team tactics to be one of the best tag teams during the years 2003 and 2004.

24. MNM – Mercury, Nitro, and Melina were a trio in 2005 on the Smackdown brand. Melina worked as a singled wrestler, while Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro(later John Morrison) were a very successful tag team from April 2005 to May 2006. During their 13 month run as a team, these two captured the WWE Tag Team Championships on three separate occasions and feuded with the likes of Mysterio/Guerrero, the new Road Warriors(Animal/Heidenreich), the Mexicools, and the London/Kendrick duo.

23. Brothers of Destruction – Can you really argue that the Undertaker and Kane are one of the greatest tag teams of all time? Sure, they were never a tag team for consecutive years, but was there ever a more dominant and feared pair than these two here? During their first run as a team, they feuded with teams such as the Dudley Boyz, Edge and Christian, the two man power trip(Austin and Triple H), and Kronik.

22. Quebecers – We are not the Mounties! That was a part of the theme song for this French-Canadian tag team. Jacques and Pierre were a team together in WWE from 1993 to 1994. Raven, then known as Johnny Polo, was their manager. They also wrestled in WCW as the Amazing French Canadians. They feuded with the Steiner Brothers, Owen and Bret Hart, the team of 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty, and the Headshrinkers.

21. Smoking Gunns – Billy and Bart Gunn were a tag team from 1993 to 1996 and held the WWF Tag Team Championships three times during that stretch. One of their final feuds led to their ultimate demise when they dropped the tag titles to Owen Hart and the British Bulldog with Sunny as their manager. Billy would go on to see far more success than Bart as a tag team and singles competitor. Bart’s biggest accomplishment AND WrestleMania moment can be found by searching Bart Gunn/Butterbean on Youtube.

20. The Naturals – Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens were apart of TNA in it’s early days near the end of 2003. They were with the company all the way until 2007 and held the NWA World Tag Titles on three occasions. They were one of the more standout teams of the time and feuded with the top tag teams in Triple X and America’s Most Wanted. They were also a part of Planet Jarrett with Chris Candido(sorry guys, no Body Donnas on this list) as their manager.

19. The Acolytes Protection Agency(APA) – Farooq and Bradshaw had their main run as a tag team from 1999 to 2002, and feuded with the Hardy Boyz as well as the team of X-Pac and Kane. They were originally just the Acolytes and worked for the Ministry of Darkness with the Undertaker as their leader, but eventually they became more of a comic relief by having an office backstage to play poker in. They would accept money from different groups for protection and this turned into one of the most entertaining angles for a tag team in WWE history.

18. The Eliminators – Perry Saturn and John Kronus would comprise one of the best tag teams in the history of ECW. They were a team together from 1993 on until they made their debut in ECW in 1995(they would team together until 1997). They would have matches with various teams such as Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck, Public Enemy, and the Dudley Boys. Kronus and Saturn were tag team innovators that have an incredible natural chemistry together. During their two years in ECW, they held the World Tag Titles on three occasions and left their mark on the history of the company.

17. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team – Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin have been teaming together on and off since 2002. They captured the WWE Tag Titles twice while competing on Smackdown as members of Team Angle and dominated the tag team division. They wouldn’t capture any gold together after their second title reign in mid 2003. They would join Ring of Honor in 2010 and capture the ROH World Tag Titles on one occasion. Benjamin is arguably the more versatile athlete of the pair and had better runs as a singles competitor, but this unit together works well and has stood out as one of the most talented and technically sound tag teams in the last twenty years.

16. Money Inc. – IRS and Ted Dibiase teamed up for 18 months in the ring and captured the WWF Tag Team titles on three occasions from the teams of LOD, the Steiner Brothers, and the Natural Disasters. This would be Dibiase’s last major run before retiring from the ring and forming the Million Dollar Corporation Stable.

15. Harris Brothers – Ron and Don Harris wrestled as the Bruise Brothers and held the USWA Tag Team Championships five times before leaving the company. They wrestled for Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion and held the World Titles there on one occasion as well. They would on to join the WWF in 1995 and compete as Jacob and Eli Blu. Though they were limited in their success as a team, they would make a return to the company in late 1997 as Skull and 8-Ball in the Disciples of Apocalypse stable. The Harris brothers would compete in WCW from 1999 until the company folded, and would hold the WCW Tag Titles on three occasions as well. Probably the most known story about the Harris brothers involves the debut of TNA Wrestling as a weekly ppv show in 2002. The story goes that the ring ropes broke in a dark match before the show went live on ppv that night and that the brothers were able to fix the ring in a miraculous amount of time.

14. Nasty Boys – Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags have been teaming together for the majority of the last twenty five years. They still team together on the independent circuit for various promotions. Knobbs and Sags biggest accomplishment would have to be their defeat of the Hart Foundation at WrestleMania VII for the WWF Tag Team Championships. Knobbs and Sags accomplished more in WCW by capturing the WCW Tag Titles on three occasions. They feuded with such teams as Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne, Harlem Heat, and the Blue Bloods. The Nasty Boys were best known for being tough guys in the ring and sometimes being too aggressive when working with the younger talent to help “toughen” them up.

13. Public Enemy – Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge both passed away in 2002 and 2006, respectively. Before their deaths, they wrestled for several as the tag team known as Public Enemy. From 1993 to 1996, Grunge and Rock held the ECW World Tag Titles on four occasions. They also held the NWA World Tag Titles and the WCW World Tag Titles during their time as a team. They feuded with the Ganstas and the Dudley Boys while with the company, and feuded only with the APA during their two month stint in the WWF. A lot of people compared the look and personality of the Public Enemy to that of the Nasty Boys.

That’s all for part one. The second and final part will be posted before the month is over. The second half of this list has far more obvious names on it for the best tag teams of the last twenty two years, and I can’t wait to share it with you! Thanks for reading!